MHA has endorsed legislation that Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey (D) introduced this week that would devote $10 million per year for the next five years to allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention.
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) joined Markey in introducing the legislation, which was co-sponsored by a number of senators, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
In a media release, Markey noted that: “A 1996 Republican appropriations rider prohibits federal funds from being used to advocate or promote gun control, which some have misconstrued as a ban on funding scientific research into the causes of gun violence. The author of the original rider, former Representative Jay Dickey (R-Ark.) now supports funding Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gun violence research and has stated that the rider should not stand in the way of researching the epidemic of gun violence.”
Joining MHA in endorsing the legislation were a number of local and national groups, including: Newtown Action Alliance, Massachusetts Medical Society, American Medical Association, Boston University School of Public Health, Rabbis Against Gun Violence, Women Against Gun Violence, and Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.